Public Attitudes To Participation

Research by MORI Scotland for the Scottish Executive shows out of five types of representative, awareness of local councillors is highest although only about one-third of adults in Scotland say they know either "a lot" or "a fair amount" about the work of their local councillor. Awareness of MEPs' work is lowest: only seven per cent say they know a lot or a fair amount about what they do.

People feel the government should consult, even on issues that are in their manifesto - but they are also sceptical about the value of consultation. Just over half feel there is little point in participating because the decisions have been made already.

The study shows that while a large proportion of people are involved in community or voluntary activity, active participation in aspects of government appears to be something that people are willing to leave to institutions and representatives, provided those representatives keep them informed. People say they have low knowledge of the work of political or government institutions, and few have any interest in becoming more involved than they are at present.

The full report and a summary of the research findings can be obtained at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/Research/ 17692/SocialResearchPubs/CivicParticaption

Technical details

This research, commissioned by the Scottish Executive Office of Chief Researcher, gathered information on public attitudes to, and experiences of, issues related to civic participation. The research was carried out by placing a module of questions in the first wave of MORI's Social Policy Monitor, a multi-client survey carried out among 1,003 respondents. Fieldwork took place between January and April 2005 and data were weighted to local authority, age and sex profiles.